Kenilworth, Washington DC

Kenilworth is a residential neighborhood in northeast Washington DC. Known for its water lilies and lotus flowers, Kenilworth was once, literally, a dump; in 1942, a garbage dump was created on the riverside south of Kenilworth to meet the needs of the expanding population of Washington. The community complained about pollution from open burning, and in February 1968 a boy was accidentally burned to death at the site, leading to the dump becoming a sanitary landfill instead. In the early 1970s, the dump closed and the land was converted into a park. In 1988, its large public housing development Kenilworth Courts was sold to its residents in an initiative championed by Mayor Marion Barry, President Ronald Reagan, and Congressman Jack Kemp.